One Very Vivid Dream
by IRemainNameless
Summary: A companion piece for my other story, Running Alone. 10 and Sarah can't sleep and meet in the observatory in the middle of the night...and then things get weird.


_One Very Vivid Dream_

_Author's Note: If you're reading this, I hope you've also read my story Running Alone, as otherwise you won't recognize my character Sarah. If so__, nice to see you again! This story occurred to me in the shower this morning. I've never quite thought about what would actually happen if 10 and Sarah stopped beating around the bush and actually admitted their feelings for one another. I decided that I would entertain myself by thinking of a ridiculous scenario for them to confess their love, but as it went on it became less and less ridiculous and more interesting. I knew I wanted to write it, but it doesn't fit into the story line at all. So here it is, separately. Take it as you will- either this is entirely fantasy and never happened within the story line of Running Alone...or perhaps it did happen. And was it a dream, or was it real? I'm leaving that for you to decide. I certainly have no idea! I hope you enjoy it :)_

Sarah bolted upright, panting. She looked around wildly. As she waited for her breathing to slow down, she reassured herself: _You're alright. You're in your room on the TARDIS. Nothing is wrong. _Finally she could breathe normally and she slumped back on her pillows, looking at the ceiling. It only took her a few minutes to realize it was hopeless. After a dream like that, there was no way she would be getting to sleep for a while. She remembered reading somewhere that it was better to get up and do something if you can't sleep rather than lie awake for hours, so she stretched and crawled out of her bed. She put a thin cotton dressing gown over her pajamas—a white tank top and slouchy drawstring pants—and padded out of her room on bare feet. She wandered the halls of the TARDIS aimlessly. Away from the heart of the TARDIS where the door and the controls were, the TARDIS was a veritable maze of hallways and doors. Sarah was relatively familiar with them now, though, and unconsciously directed herself to the observatory.

She entered the huge room and felt more relaxed immediately. The ceiling and the farthest wall were entirely glass, or some sort of transparent material, and looked out onto the universe. A huge brass telescope hung from the ceiling which Sarah passed as she moved across to sit in front of the glass wall. This was a favorite haunt of hers when she was sad, or scared, or just needed to be alone. At first it had been terrifying to watch the stars whiz past, and the occasional space ship, but now it was like white noise. Calming, and peaceful.

"Nice night for a walk, eh?" Said a voice from just behind her.

She whipped around, startled, to see the Doctor had followed in behind her. He smiled and sat down on the floor next to her.

"You couldn't sleep either?" He asked, joining her as she looked out at the stars and planets.

"Yeah, sort of. I had a nightmare so I figured I'd go for a walk."

"What kind of nightmare?" He turned to her, looking concerned. It wasn't the panicked, urgent look he adopted when something horrible was about to happen, but instead a tender, worried one. It made her feel self conscious, especially considering the subject of her nightmare.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a dream." She wrapped her arms around one knee and buried her face so he wouldn't be able to see her expression.

"You know, sometimes telling someone is just the cure you need for a nightmare," He said, not looking at her, and instead addressing the universe in front of him. "Sometimes it can make you feel better." He turned slightly to catch her eye, and smiled kindly.

"Yourgonnathinkstupid." Came a mumble from the area of Sarah's knee.

"Pardon me?" Said the Doctor, and she could hear that he was laughing. "I speak thousands of languages but I don't believe I recognize that one."

She picked her head up only enough to rest her chin on her knee, still refusing to look at him. "You'll think it's stupid," she repeated.

"Isn't that the point of telling me your nightmare?" Said the Doctor, nonchalantly. She turned to look at him, trying to decide if he was making fun of her.

"Really!" He said, raising his hands to show surrender. "If you tell me your nightmare then it'll seem silly and it won't be so scary anymore."

She turned away and pondered this. The idea had merit. "Alright, fine, but you're not allowed to laugh. I had a dream that….that you'd died, for good, and I had to go back home without you. And then the TARDIS just sat there outside my building with no one to pilot it and there were horrible invasions happening and no one could stop them and—" She cut herself off in surprise as an arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"Hey," whispered a voice in her ear, "I'm not going anywhere. That's the silliest kind of dream you could have."

She buried her head back into her knee. "I'm such an idiot. Here I am having stupid dreams about you and worrying about you and you always keep so _calm_. I bet you never have nightmares."

"We-ell, that's not quite true. I certainly have the occasional nightmare. And _even _some silly dreams." She could hear the smile in his voice—he was trying to cheer her up, and against her better judgment it was working.

"I bet you don't have silly dreams worrying about me," She said, still pouting.

The Doctor's arm on her shoulders stiffened, and she heard him clear his throat nervously. "Well, I have dreams about all my companions. That's not weird. I mean…not silly…well, some of them are silly…"

She turned to see the Doctor's brow was furrowed and he wasn't looking at her. He was examining the tiled floor beneath them.

"Oh yeah? What silly dreams have you had about me?" It was her turn to smile encouragingly, but the effect was marred by the mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Absolutely nothing," He said, sitting up and removing his arm. He ruffled his hair and looked anywhere in the room except at her. Once again Sarah noticed how beautiful his brown eyes were, and how sweet he looked when he was flustered, and how agile his thin, pale fingers were…and she was struck by an extremely crazy idea.

"Doctor," she said, looking at him intently. "Can I…just…." She was starting to lose heart—this was _such _a stupid idea and she would regret this later—but she steeled herself and looked back at him. "Can you close your eyes for a second?"

He looked at her, confused, but did not question her. He closed his eyes.

Suddenly her heart was hammering in her chest. She moved closer, and placed one of her hands over his very lightly. He didn't move, but his eyelashes fluttered for a second. She was frozen over his lips…but couldn't bring herself to do it. She darted in for a swift kiss on his cheek and then panicked. _What in the world did I just do? _She threw herself away from him and took off running, bare feet squeaking on the tile floor.

The Doctor was sitting exactly where he'd left her and slowly opened his eyes. He blinked, processing what had happened, and then took off after her. He had no idea which way she'd gone but followed his instincts and his knowledge of Sarah's habits. He therefore quickly ended up outside of the library, whose door had just slammed closed.

Sarah locked the door of the library and pressed her back up against the wood, panting. She was crazy. She had _definitely _gone crazy. She was nuts. Insane. Her only hope was that the Doctor had not followed her, had no idea where she'd gone and, if she was lucky, he would never mention this again. What had she been _thinking? _And then there was a soft knock at the door.

"Sarah…open up, please."

Her heart started hammering again. "No!" She answered, sounding like a petulant child. She decided that she didn't care about how immature she was being and pressed harder against the door.

"Fine, don't open the door. I can get in whether you open it or not."

"No you can't! I locked it!" She answered breathlessly, still pressing against the door for all she was worth.

She heard him laughing through the door. "Have you forgotten who you're dealing with?" Then she heard the whirring of the sonic screwdriver, and groaned.

"But it doesn't do wood! So you're out of luck!" _But how long can I hide out in here?, _she thought to herself.

"Sarah, do you _really _think that there's a door in this TARDIS that I can't get into?" The lock on the door clicked, and released.

She tore away from the door and ran zig zags down aisles, trying to lose him. But all the while she could hear him walking slowly and calmly behind her until she finally found herself trapped. She had reached the back wall of the library and there was nowhere else to go. Her mind whirled wildly through ideas and finally she decided that she would run back to the door of the library and try and lose him in the maze-like hallways of the TARDIS. She ran forward to an aisle to try this idea and crashed into the Doctor. She moved slowly backward until she hit the wall of books behind her.

"Look, I am so, _so _sorry Doctor. I don't know what came over me and I promise I'll never do it again. Please, forgive me!" Her blue eyes were wide as she looked up at him. He had stopped a couple feet away from her. He didn't say anything, just looked at her. She couldn't read his expression—it was one she'd never seen before. His eyes were dark in the half light of the library, and she couldn't meet his gaze for long. So she looked down to see that he was barefoot, as she was, wearing white cotton pants and a blue bathrobe that was open to reveal that he wasn't wearing a shirt…she gulped and looked back up at his face.

She couldn't bare the silence and so she broke it again. "Please, I know how much that must have hurt you. I wasn't thinking and I'm really, _truly _sorry."

Finally he spoke. His voice was an octave deeper than it was normally. "Hurt me? In what way?"

"I…well, after Rose…I know you still love her…I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot. I know you don't feel that way…." She coughed. "And I'm not saying _I _feel that way! About..you…or anything…I just went a little crazyandI'llneverdoitagainI'msosorry." She looked up again to see that he had stepped closer as she babbled. He was inches away from her, now, looking down at her with almost black eyes. He placed one arm against the bookshelf over her head.

"Please don't tell me I can't be your companion anymore! Please, I won't—" He cut off her next stream of babble by leaning down and kissing her. She couldn't breathe. This was not the pathetic kiss on the cheek she'd just done, this was a _real, _passionate kiss. He broke it but did not move away, instead looking directly into her eyes and bringing up his other hand to her face.

"You know what I'm thinking about right now?" He asked, his voice still deep and slightly husky. She didn't answer. She had the feeling she'd lost her voice somewhere during the kiss. "It's not about Rose," He began, answering for her and stroking her cheek. She shivered. "It's not about throwing you out, or about aliens, or anything like that. I'm thinking…" He moved in closer and was again just an inch away from her lips. "About _you, _Sarah. Just you."

And then he kissed her again, and this time she kissed him back.

Sarah woke up slowly, trying to figure out what had just happened. Was that a dream? It had seemed so real…but here she was, back in her bed, as if nothing had never happened. She sat up and checked her clock—it was 8 AM. She rubbed her scalp, trying to process what she remembered, but it was crazy. Obviously it had been one _really _wild dream. She got up to get dressed, trying not to think about how much she'd enjoyed it…

The Doctor was leaning against the hub of the TARDIS, thinking. He had had a very strange dream and was processing how he felt about it. First he had been shocked, then embarrassed, then ashamed, but now….he smiled to himself, glad that Sarah was not around to see him. It had been a _very _good dream.


End file.
